A poke bowl (pronounced po-kay). Is a traditional dish from Hawaii. It's this wonderful mixture of warm, cold, sweet and savory. I came across this dish by accident when walking through the local farmers market. They have a new poke bowl shop there and the smell was so intoxicating I just had to give it a try. I enjoyed it so much I decided that night I just had to make this at home. As it turns out it is quite easy to make.

The key pieces to a poke bowl include rice, raw fish and some toppings. It's a bit like a deconstructed sushi roll. The fish is marinated in soy sauce (or other types marinades) and then placed on top of the seasoned rice with green onions and other preferred toppings. A traditional poke bowl is yellow fin tuna, sushi style rice topped with green onions and avocado. What makes this dish so great is you can dress it however you like. You can add jalapenos, sesame seeds, seaweed, roe...you name it. You can also use salmon instead of tuna if you want something more cost effective. The important thing is that the fish be a fattier, meatier kind and also that it is as fresh as possible (sushi grade).

I was able to find some beautiful fresh tuna at my local fish monger and was so excited to get started. I used a marinade of soy, ponzu and mirin which together created a lovely sweet, salty citrus flavor. You can easily just use a good quality soy sauce if you want to keep it simple. I also swapped the sushi rice for a brown rice for some added fibre, The brown rice takes a little longer to cook but it's well worth the time to make a more filling dish. The chef at the poke bowl shop also recommended mixing a little rice wine vinegar into the rice which I have to say definitely adds to the flavour. The recipe below is a basic but tasty poke bowl you can try at home. Just remember a few important things: The fish MUST be fresh and the dish should be served right away. Please note that this dish will not keep until the next day as the fish is raw. Since it's so delicious there probably won't be any leftovers anyway. Enjoy!

Tuna, Avocado Poke Bowl

Ingredients

6 oz red tuna

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp ponzu sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 cup brown rice

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

​2 green onions, diced

1/2 avocado, diced

Instructions

Chop red tuna into bite sized pieces. Toss in a mixing bowl with sesame seeds, soy, ponzu and mirin. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes but not more than 30.

Cook brown rice according to package. Once cooked add in rice wine vinegar and leave on stove top to keep warm.

Once all the ingredients are ready divide rice among three bowls. Add a lump of tuna onto each mound of rice.

I love the recipe! Thanks for the avocado traditional dish. My hubby doesn't like avocados very much, but my son and I adore them. I wish I went to Hawaii at least once to taste it prepared by the natives.
Alison

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Author

Kate ParkRD, CDE, PTS, MAN, BAScKate is a Registered Dietitian and self proclaimed foodie who studied her Master of Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph. Currently she practices at a Family Health Team in Southern Ontario. Her greatest passion in life is food, so she spends her spare time teaching cooking classes and nutrition courses all over Ontario.